Transcript Document

Introduction to
Pharmaceuticals and
Personal Care Products (PPCPs)
Christian G. Daughton, Ph.D.
Chief, Environmental Chemistry Branch
Environmental Sciences Division
National Exposure Research Laboratory
Office of Research and Development
Environmental Protection Agency
Las Vegas, Nevada 89119
[email protected]
U.S. EPA Notice
Although this work was reviewed by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
approved for presentation, it may not necessarily
reflect official Agency policy. While the text for this
. presentation has been reviewed, the oral narrative has
not. Mention of trade names or commercial products
does not necessarily constitute endorsement or
..
recommendation by EPA for use.
Wealth of other materials and links to most
of the ongoing work relevant to this topic
are available at the
U.S. EPA’s PPCPs Web Site:
http://www.epa.gov/nerlesd1/chemistry/pharma
Historical Perspective - PPCPs

PPCPs as environmental pollutants first investigated in Europe 1980s.

With the advent of monitoring and research in the U.S.,
literature has grown exponentially since 2000.

PPCPs are not truly "emerging" pollutants. It is the
understanding of the significance of their occurrence in the
environment that is beginning to develop.

Topic has high public visibility.

Continues to attract significant media attention - newspapers,
magazines (popular, trade, and science), radio, and TV.

Overall issue comprises numerous facets involving expertise
from a broad spectrum of disciplines ranging from human health
to ecology - - necessitating communication between the
medical/healthcare communities and environmental scientists.
Sampling of Organizations Involved with PPCP Activities
 USGS: Emerging contaminants national reconnaissance in nation's water resources
 CDC: CAFOs, with focus on antibiotics and steroids
 FDA: FONSIs or EAs for all new drugs (EIC of 1 ppb is the determining factor)
 USDA: CAFOs, with focus on antibiotics and steroids
 U.S. Grants: U.S. EPA STAR, USGS/Water Resources Research Institute,
AwwaRF, WateReuse Foundation, Sea Grants
 other GOs: Health Canada, EMEA (European Medicines Agency), Danish EPA
 Researchers: Academic, private (engineering consulting), and public (e.g.,
water providers) in Europe, Scandinavia, Canada, and U.S.
 PhRMA: Pharmaceuticals Research and Manufacturers of America – PIE
Task Force
 Health Care Community: esp. hospital wastes
 State and Local Governments: expanding interest in “take-back”
programs; groundwater recharge monitoring
Some Significant Current Projects on Pharmaceuticals
SETAC Pharmaceuticals Workgroup (formed at the Portland meeting in Fall
2004 by Dr. Hans Sanderson, Soap and Detergent Association, Washington,
DC: [email protected]). Comprises subcommittees on: Environmental
Effects; Chemical Fate & Predicted Environmental Concentrations; Water Treatment
& Management; Environmental Risk Assessment; Future Criteria for Risk
Management; Mixtures.
Product Stewardship Institute (PSI), Inc. Project on Pharmaceutical
Wastes (begun in May 2005) focusing primarily on unwanted or waste
pharmaceutical products from households. Scott Cassel, Executive Director,
Boston, MA: [email protected]
Federal Interagency Task Group on PPCPs. Created in September 2004 by
the National Science and Technology Council's subcommittee on Health and
the Environment. Chaired by the U.S. FDA and comprises representatives
from the CDC, NIEHS, USGS, USDA, FDA, NOAA, and EPA. A major
objective is to recommend how the various federal agencies having roles related to
pharmaceuticals as environmental pollutants can prioritize research, better coordinate
their efforts, and collaborate more effectively. An EPA contact is Christian
Daughton: [email protected]
Scope of Issue

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Thousands of distinct chemical entities.
Numerous (and increasing) therapeutic classes and end uses.
Large numbers possess very high biological activity.
Two classes of therapeutics that have received the most
attention are the antibiotics (potential for resistance
selection among pathogens) and steroidal hormones
(overlap with EDCs).
For the plethora of other classes, however, little is known
regarding the potential for effects.
In general, PPCPs are not regulated water pollutants.
Regulated pollutants compose but a very small piece of the
universe of chemical stressors to which organisms can be
exposed on a continual basis.
PPCPs as Environmental Pollutants?
PPCPs are a diverse group of chemicals comprising all
human and veterinary drugs (available by prescription or
over-the-counter; including the new genre of “biologics”),
diagnostic agents (e.g., X-ray contrast media),
“nutraceuticals” (bioactive food supplements such as
huperzine A), and other consumer chemicals, such as
fragrances (e.g., musks) and sun-screen agents (e.g.,
methylbenzylidene camphor); also included are
“excipients” (so-called “inert” ingredients used in PPCP
manufacturing and formulation).
Clarification of Acronyms
Pharmaceuticals & Personal Care Products: “PPCPs”
Endocrine Disrupting Compounds: “EDCs”†
†A plethora
of other terms have often been used interchangeably with
EDCs (rightly and wrongly). These include: environmental estrogens,
endocrine-disruptors, endocrine-modulators, estrogenic mimics,
ecoestrogens, environmental hormones, xenoestrogens, hormonerelated toxicants, hormonally active agents (HAAs), endocrine-active
chemicals (EACs), endocrine active substances (EASs), phytoestrogens
(a naturally occurring subset). [Note: estrogens account for but one
mode of action – others include androgens and thyroid hormones]
Groupings of Chemical Pollutants:
Confusion from Their Intersections and Acronyms
Grouping
EDC (Endocrine Disrupting Chemical)
CMR (Carcinogenic, Mutagenic, toxic to
Reproduction)
Grouped According to:
toxicological mode of action
or endpoint
PBT (Persistent, Bioaccumulative Toxic)
environmental properties
vPvB (very Persistent, very Bioaccumulative)
POP (Persistent Organic Pollutant)
PPCPs
type of intended usage
priority pollutants and others
legislation
“emerging” contaminants/pollutants
Novelty, fad, timeliness, or
new concern
EDCs vs. PPCPs

PPCPs

EDCs
PPCPs and EDCs are not synonymous — they are
intersecting sets of large, diverse chemical galaxies.


Must avoid confusion regarding their relationship.
Only a small subset of PPCPs are known/suspected
of being direct-acting EDCs (e.g., synthetic steroids);
toxicological concerns usually differ for every
therapeutic class. EDCs comprise members from
many disparate chemical classes other than PPCPs.

Hormones & EDCs
 A more
recent definition of a “hormone” (by Nobel Laureate Roger
Guillemin) suggests a much broader definition: "Any substance
released by a cell which acts on another cell, near or far..." Hormones
are produced in many sites throughout the body and may be released
directly into the blood, into neuronal synapses, or into the immediate
intercellular space to affect adjacent cellular activity.
 Attempts
to focus attention on chemicals that can “disrupt” or
“modulate” endocrine pathways must be sure to sufficiently narrow the
scope of concern — otherwise the terminology becomes so broad as to
lose meaning.
The ultimate objective of all these signaling molecules (chemical
messengers) is to maintain cellular, organ, and organism
HOMEOSTASIS and to control physiological processes.

Endocrine Modulators and Homeostasis
Hormones: secreted from
endocrine sources and some
neurons; transported by blood
to remote targets (nuclear
receptors). Regulate gene
transcription (e.g., sex
steroids). Slow-acting.
continuum
biochemical agents for
maintaining cellular, organ,
and organism
HOMEOSTASIS
and controlling
physiological processes
Pheromones: secreted by
exocrine glands; targets outside
body; integrate social activities
between animals.
Endocrine Physiology
Neurotransmitters: secreted
from neurons and act on
immediately adjacent target
cells for a short time (e.g.,
acetylcholine).
Local signaling
molecules: secreted from
cells of many different tissues;
act locally; quickly degraded.
Neuroendocrinology
Neurophysiology
C.D. Daughton, 21 November 2001
U.S. EPA-Las Vegas
EDCs versus PPCPs
Hormones: secreted from
endocrine sources and some
neurons; transported by blood
to remote targets (nuclear
receptors). Regulate gene
transcription (e.g., sex
steroids). Slow-acting.
continuum
biochemical agents for
maintaining cellular, organ,
and organism
HOMEOSTASIS
and controlling
physiological processes
Pheromones: secreted by
exocrine glands; targets outside
body; integrate social activities
between animals.
EDCs
Neurotransmitters: secreted
from neurons and act on
immediately adjacent target
cells for a short time (e.g.,
acetylcholine).
Local signaling
molecules: secreted from
cells of many different tissues;
act locally; quickly degraded.
preponderance of action
PPCPs
C.D. Daughton, 21 November 2001
U.S. EPA-Las Vegas
Non-Hormonal Endpoints from Hormones
Genotoxicity
Reactive Intermediates
P450 oxidation of estrogens
(whether endogenous, synthetic
hormones, industrial products, or
natural products)
Estradiol (E2)
P450
o-Quinones
forms reactive semiquinone and
quinone intermediates.
Estrone (E1)
If quinones are not quickly removed
by COMT
(catechol-O-methyltransferase)
2-OH-E2
P450
COMT
Inactive Metabolites
they bind to DNA and lead to
de-purination.and genotoxicity.
16-α-OH-E1
2&4-methoxy-E2
4-OH-E2
"Emerging" Pollutants vs. Emerging Awareness
The vast majority of all "emerging" pollutants
are not new to the environment
Two major sources for pollutants that are truly "new" to
the environment:
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Chemicals newly introduced to commerce (e.g., new drugs or
pesticides).
New anthropogenic processes (e.g., gallium arsenide quantum dots).
Previously unrecognized pollutants can come to our
attention as a result of:
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New advances in chemical analysis (e.g., "non-target" identification).
Ability to detect existing pollutants at ever-lower concentrations (e.g.,
N-nitrosodimethylamine - NDMA).
Exploring environmental "compartments" not previously considered
(e.g., foods as a significant source of acrylamide).
PPCPs as “Emerging” Risks?
It is reasonable to surmise that the occurrence of PPCPs in
waters is not a new phenomenon. It has only become more
widely evident in the last decade because continually
improving chemical analysis methodologies have lowered
the limits of detection for a wide array of xenobiotics in
environmental matrices. There is no reason to believe
that PPCPs have not existed in the environment for as
long as they have been used commercially.
“PBTs” - “POPs” - “BCCs”:
Only one part of the risk puzzle?
Since the 1970s, the impact of chemical pollution has focused almost
exclusively on conventional “priority pollutants”†, especially on those
collectively referred to as “persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic” (PBT)
pollutants, “persistent organic pollutants” (POPs), or “bioaccumulative
chemicals of concern” (BCCs).
The “dirty dozen” is a ubiquitous, notorious subset of these, comprising
highly halogenated organics (e.g., DDT, PCBs).
The conventional priority pollutants, however, are only one piece of the
larger risk puzzle.
an historical note: the current “lists” of priority pollutants were originally
established in the 1970s in large part based on which chemicals of initial
concern could be measured with off-the-shelf chemical analysis technology.
Priority pollutants were NOT selected because they posed the sole risks.
†
What portion of overall risk is
contributed by unregulated
pollutants?
Can risk be assessed in a truly
holistic manner without knowing the
actual exposure universe?
The Chemical Universe
The KNOWN Universe
As of August 2005, over 26 million organic and inorganic
substances had been documented.

(indexed by the American Chemical Society's Chemical Abstracts Service in their CAS Registry; excluding bio-sequences
such as proteins and nucleotides)
Of the 26 million known chemicals, nearly 9 million were
commercially available.


Representing a 12% increase over the prior year.
Of
these, fewer than a quarter million (240,000) were
inventoried or regulated by numerous government bodies
worldwide - - representing less than 3% of those that are
commercially available or less than 1% of the known universe
of chemicals.
http://www.epa.gov/nerlesd1/chemistry/pharma/critical.htm
The Chemical Universe
The POTENTIAL Universe
While the KNOWN universe of chemicals might seem large
(26 million), the universe of POTENTIAL chemicals (those that
could possibly be synthesized and those that already exist but
which have not yet been identified) is unimaginably large.

How many distinct organic chemical entities could
hypothetically be synthesized and added to a seemingly
limitless, ever-expanding chemical universe?
By limiting synthesis strictly to combinations of 30 atoms of
just C, N, O, or S, more than 1060 structures are possible !

Expanding the allowable elements to other heteroatoms (e.g.,
P and halogens), the limits to the numbers of possible structures
defies imagination. Also known as “chemical space”.

For more discussion, see:
http://epa.gov/nerlesd1/chemistry/pharma/critical.htm
Prevalence/Distribution of Xenobiotic Occurrence
Prevalence of Xenobiotic Occurrence:
Some Possible Generalizations Regarding Ubiquity
 The lower the concentration, the higher the probability of
larger numbers of distinct chemicals occurring
 Exponentially more types of chemicals occur at
exponentially lower concentrations (does the distribution of
chemical types versus their concentrations follow a power law, as
shown for such a wide array of other phenomenon? e.g., see: M.
Buchanan "Ubiquity", Crown Publishers 2000)
 At the very lowest concentrations (zeptomolar to
yoctomolar, zM - yM), the off-the-cuff truism may apply:
"Everything can be found everywhere"
Einstein on:
Environmental Monitoring
“Not everything that can be counted counts,
and not everything that counts can be
counted.“ (oft attributed to Albert Einstein)
corollary for environmental monitoring
Not everything that can be measured is
worth measuring, and not everything
worth measuring is measurable.
further truisms regarding
Environmental Monitoring
 What one finds usually depends on what one aims
to search for.
 Only those compounds targeted for monitoring have
the potential for being identified and quantified.
 Those compounds not targeted will elude detection.
 The spectrum of pollutants identified in a sample
represent but a portion of those present and they are of
unknown overall risk significance.
Environmental Exposure

Occurs as a result of the combined actions, activities, and
behaviors of multitudes of individuals.

Inadvertent discharge: Excretion to sewage.
Analogous origins occur from veterinary and agriculture
usage (e.g., CAFOs).
Purposeful discharge: Disposal of expired/unwanted
PPCPs to toilets and drains as well as trash.
Of the eight “grand challenges” identified in the NRC’s
2000 report (Grand Challenges in Environmental
Sciences), one "encompasses questions about societal-level
consumption patterns, since consumption is the primary
force driving human perturbations of material cycles.”


Available: http://www.epa.gov/nerlesd1/chemistry/pharma/image/drawing.pdf
Inter-Connectedness of Humans and
the Environment
Occurrence of PPCPs in the environment mirrors
the intimate, inseparable, and immediate connection
between the actions and activities of individuals and
their environment.

PPCPs owe their origins in the environment to their
worldwide, universal, frequent, and highly dispersed
but cumulative usage by multitudes of individuals.
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Ramifications
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Exposure at therapeutic doses is NOT the concern.
Exposure to non-target organisms could be significant.
Continual input via treated sewage imparts PPCPs with
"pseudo-persistence" even if they have short half-lives.
Aquatic organisms can suffer continual exposure.
Potential exists for subtle effects (e.g., neurobehavioral change),
even at ppb levels (μg/L).
Potential exists for inhibition of aquatic defensive mechanisms
such as efflux pumps.
Pose many challenges for the outer envelope of toxicology especially the many unknowns associated with effects from
simultaneous exposure to multiple chemical stressors over long
periods of time.
Potential for additive (cumulative) and interactive (synergistic)
effects from multiple exposure.
Toxicity of
Complex Environmental Mixtures:
Poses Major Unanswered Questions
Exposure to Multiple, Trace-Level Xenobiotics
below Known Effects Levels
Potential Toxicological Significance as a Result of:
(1) Potential for additive effects from multiple agents
sharing common mechanisms action (MOAs). Individual
concentrations combine to exceed an effects level.
(2) Possible interactive effects, especially synergism,
where combined action exceeds the sum of individual
effects.
(3) Hormesis – Effects below purported NOELs.
Paradoxical “U-shaped” dose-response curves.
continued >
Potential Toxicological Significance as a Result of:
(4) Dynamic Dose-Response. Toxicant-Induced Loss of
Tolerance (TILT): initial exposure sensitizes, and subsequent
exposures to levels below those previously tolerated trigger
symptoms (e.g., ecological version of MCS).
(5) Comparatively little research performed at extremely low
concentrations (nM-pM and below). Some agents have ability
to impart previously unrecognized effects at "ultra-trace"
concentrations.
(6) Non-target species receptor repertoires not well
characterized. Variation in receptor repertoires across species,
and unknown overlap with humans leads to countless questions
regarding potential effects.
continued >
Potential Toxicological Significance as a Result of:
(7) Susceptible genetic outliers within species.
(8) MOAs not fully understood. Even most drugs can each
have a multitude of effects. Most MOAs for the therapeutic
endpoints, however, remain to be discovered, even for humans.
- concluded -
PPCPs in Receiving Waters:
A Global, Ubiquitous Process with Unique
Local Expression
 Important to recognize that ALL municipal sewage,
regardless of location, will contain PPCPs. Issue is
not unique to any particular municipal area.
 Each geographic area will differ only with respect
to the types, quantities, and relative
abundances of individual PPCPs.
Aquatic organisms — captive to continual, lifecycle chemical exposures
Aquatic Exposure is Key: Any chemical introduced via
sewage to the aquatic realm can lead to continual,
multigenerational exposure for aquatic organisms.

Re-evaluation of “Persistence”:
Chemicals continually infused to the
aquatic environment essentially become
“persistent” pollutants even if their half-lives are short —
their supply is continually replenished (analogous to a
bacterial chemostat). These can be referred to as
pseudo-persistent chemicals (P2’s).

Bioconcentration: New Paradigm ?
 Low octanol-water partition coefficients (high polarity) would
seem to preclude bioconcentration for most PPCPs.
Examples of those subject to bioconcentration include: synthetic
musks, sunscreen filters, parabens, triclosan, triclocarban.
 But certain drugs, despite their low lipid solubilities, are being
detected in aquatic tissues in concentrations enriched from those
in the ambient water. This is perhaps partly a result of drugs being
designed to take advantage of gaining intracellular access via
active transport :
Examples:
estrogens (concentrated in fish bile 60,000 X)
gemfibrozil (concentrated in fish tissue, 113 X)
diclofenac (concentrated in fish)
fluoxetine (concentrated in muscle, liver, and brain of fish)
Potential for Subtle Effects?
continued >
Potential for Subtle (currently
unrecognized) Effects?
Could immediate biological actions on non-target species be
imperceptible but nonetheless lead to adverse impacts as a result of
continual accretion over long periods of time? For example, latent
damage, only surfacing later in life. The issue of “resiliency”.

Could subtle effects accumulate so slowly (perhaps seeming to be
part of natural variation) that major outward change cannot be
ascribed to the original cause?

Effects that are sufficiently subtle that they are undetectable or
unnoticed present a challenge to risk assessment (especially
ecological) — e.g., subtle shifts in behavior or intelligence.

 Advances
required in developing/implementing new aquatic
toxicity tests to better ensure that such effects can be detected.
continued >
Subtle, Difficult-to-Detect Effects:
some examples
Profound effects on development, spawning, and wide array of other
behaviors in shellfish, ciliates, and other aquatic organisms by SSRI and
tricyclic antidepressants (ppb levels).

Dramatic inhibition of sperm activity in certain aquatic organisms by
calcium-channel blockers.
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Antiepileptic drugs (e.g., phenytoin, valproate, carbamazepine) have
potential as human neuroteratogens, triggering extensive apoptosis in
the developing brain  neurodegeneration.

ppm and sub-ppm levels of various drugs (NSAIDS, glucocorticoids,
anti-fibrotics) affect collagen metabolism in teleost fish, leading to
defective/blocked fin regeneration
 Multi-drug transporters (efflux pumps) are common defensive
strategies for aquatic biota — possible significance of efflux pump
inhibitors in compromising aquatic health?

Peeking at the Future
Critical Importance of Futuring
&
Anticipatory Research
Important to design and implement a range of
mechanisms for providing insight as to those types
of pollutants and sources that could emerge in the
future.

Pollution Prevention and Stewardship programs
can be less costly than remediation (Precautionary
Principle), pollutant “musical chairs” (pollutant
diversion), or “pollution postponement” (storage
such as in landfills).

continued >
The World’s Accessible Freshwater Resources
Critical Importance of
Forging Better Linkages
between Science and the Public
continued >
Which water would you choose ?
Recycled Sewage or Snow Melt ?
Key to Maintaining & Improving the Public's
Confidence in Water Supplies
Growing pressures to re-use wastewaters for drinking
"Increasingly Smaller Recycle Loops": Ever-shortening spatial &
temporal hydraulic connectivity between point of wastewater discharge
and point of use for drinking will pose serious challenges for ensuring
human safety and for framing how risk is perceived by the consumer.
Two Major Issues:
Groundwater Recharge (both indirect and direct)
De-Centralized Water Re-Use - - "Toilet-to-tap"
WATER RE-USE
To Pee or Not to Pee
Maybe there's
another reason
they're called
PPCPs?
We are what we drink,
we drink what we are.
Key Role of Beliefs in
Public Acceptance of Recycled Water
 Historically, some water re-use projects have become
"branded" with negative images by consumers.
 Negative images cannot necessarily be erased or corrected
by more or even better science. In fact, studies show that
additional supportive data often serves to exacerbate
already-formed negative images.
 Instead, we must involve social psychologists to bridge
the communications gap between science and the public.
 The "yuck factor" associated with so-called "toilet-to-tap"
programs, for example, derives from beliefs that have long
been imbedded in social belief constructs, and these beliefs
are refractory to being influenced by positive findings of
science.
continued >
Key Role of Beliefs in
Public Acceptance of Recycled Water
 The principles of logic upon which certain beliefs
are based derive from what are known as the "common
laws of magic," one of which is the Law of Association,
which in turn comprises the sub-laws of Similarity and
Contact or Contagion. These “laws” partly originated
with the Alchemists, and therefore have a distant
relationship with chemistry.
 The Law of Similarity states that like things produce
like things (effects resemble their causes).
 The Law of Contagion holds that once contaminated, always
contaminated. "Things that have once been in contact with each
other continue to act on each other at a distance even after physical
contact has been severed." Once objects come into contact with
each other they will continue to influence each other, even after
separation.
continued >
Risk Communication and Water Re-Use
An examination in new light of the problems
with communicating risk, especially with regard
to groundwater injection and water reuse:
Daughton C.G. "Groundwater Recharge and Chemical
Contaminants: Challenges in Communicating the Connections
and Collisions of Two Disparate Worlds," In Fate and Transport
of Pharmaceuticals and Endocrine Disrupting Compounds
(EDCs) During Ground Water Recharge (special issue), Ground
Water Monitoring & Remediation, 2004, 24(2): 127-138.
http://www.epa.gov/nerlesd1/chemistry/ppcp/images/water-reuse.pdf
continued >
Real-world lesson
in communicating:
Outhouse Springs
Bottled Water
Experiment by:
Adams Outdoor
Advertising, South
Carolina, 2002
http://www.outhousesprings.com/index.html
concluded
Future topics where PPCPs could play major roles

Water recycling: With water reuse, especially "toilet-to-tap" programs,
the occurrence of even ultra-trace levels of human-use drugs in water
serves to highlight to the public what the origin of the water was. This
risk-communication/perception problem will pose major problems
with regard to public acceptance.

Biosolids: The occurrence and fate of PPCPs in biosolids was
unknown (NRC July 2002 report: Biosolids Applied to Land:
Advancing Standards and Practices).

Biopharming: Environmental ramifications of molecular farming or
"biopharming" (plant-made pharmaceuticals) are unknown.

Nanomaterials: The environmental fate and ramifications of
nanomaterials (which will play ever-growing roles in nanomedicine)
are unknown.

Homeland Security: Certain PPCPs hold the potential for being used in
water sabotage (e.g., psychoactive agents; teratogens).
Early-Warning Water Monitoring
Unregulated (including "emerging") pollutants could
provide critical missing pieces for the larger holistic risk
puzzle.

Designing and implementing early-warning watermonitoring systems could prove essential for providing a
better understanding of the larger risk universe.

Low-cost, rapid monitoring is theoretically possible for
non-target pollutants with the use of analytical approaches
based on "change detection" - - using changes in pollution
"fingerprints" to focus solely on those unknown contaminants
that are newly present. This is in distinct contrast with
traditional target-based monitoring.

continued >
Early-Warning Water Monitoring
Early-warning, change-based water monitoring could also prove essential
for assisting with five other critical issues facing society.
(1) Homeland Security - - Minimizing chances of widespread exposure
resulting from sabotage of water systems.
(2) Water Re-use/Recycling - - Solidifying & maintaining public trust in
water supplies (critical for attaining public acceptance of water reuse).
(3) Detecting unanticipated impacts of technology on the environment - impacts can go undetected until a pollutant establishes a widespread
presence in the environment.
(4) Enhanced science literacy (changing consumer behavior & perceiving of
risk) - - improved public understanding that chemicals derived from
consumer actions and activities can gain immediate access to the
environment
(5) Advanced warning of new trends in drugs of abuse - - Previously
unknown trends in usage of drugs of abuse (increases and reductions) can
theoretically be revealed by monitoring sewage.
- concluded -
Risk Communication and Water Re-Use
Society's perplexing relationship with the paradoxical
simplicity and complexity of water is reflected perhaps in no
better way than by DH Lawrence's
The Third Thing (Pansies 1929):
Water is H20
Hydrogen two parts
Oxygen one
But there is a third thing
That makes it water.
And nobody knows what that is.
Questions
feel free to contact:
Christian Daughton, Ph.D.
Chief, Environmental Chemistry Branch
Environmental Sciences Division
National Exposure Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
[email protected]
702-798-2207
http://www.epa.gov/nerlesd1/chemistry/pharma/
prepared for:
Non-Regulated Pollutants Workshop:
Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs) and
Pharmaceuticals & Personal Care Products (PPCPs)
Pollutants of Emerging Concern Panel Series
U.S. EPA Region 2
New York, NY
26 October 2005
Christian Daughton, Ph.D.
Chief, Environmental Chemistry Branch
Environmental Sciences Division
National Exposure Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
[email protected]
702-798-2207
prepared: 7 October 2005